B o e k h a n d e l

K i r c h n e r

1.4.1.4 Johannes

Anderson, Paul N.

The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel. An Introduction to John

Paul Anderson, a leading scholar of the Fourth Gospel, provides an introductory textbook, crafted for a semester course, which leads students through literary, historical, and theological aspects of the Fourth Gospel's most vexing puzzles. Traditional, historical-critical, and literary-critical approaches are deftly introduced and their limitations evaluated; questions of the Gospel's authorship, composition, relationship to the Synoptics, and origins in particular historical experiences are succinctly addressed; and distinctive Johannine perspectives on Jesus, the church, and the world are discussed.

Simon Peter's Denial and Jesus' Commissioning Him as His Successor in John 21:15-19: Studies in Their Judaic Background

This study uses early Jewish sources to analyze the significance of Day of Atonement and High Priest imagery in the narrative of Simon Peter's threefold denial of Jesus. It then describes the influence of other early Jewish sources on Jesus' commissioning his main disciple Simon Peter as his own successor in John 21:15-19. Aus relates this event to Moses' commissioning his main disciple Joshua as his successor.

The first St Andrews Conference on Scripture and Theology (2005) brought leading biblical scholars and systematic theologians together in conversation, helping to bridge a growing gap between the two disciplines. The essays here consider John's Gospel from many angles, addressing a number of key issues that arise from a theological discussion of this text: John's dualism in our pluralist context, historicity and testimony, the treatment of Judaism, Christology, and more.

The author of a much-loved two volume Matthew commentary (1990 ) that he greatly revised and expanded fourteen years later, Frederick Dale Bruner now offers The Gospel of John: A Commentary -- more rich fruit of his lifetime of study and teaching. Rather than relying primarily on recent scholarship, Bruner honors and draws from the church's major John commentators throughout history, including Augustine, Chrysostom, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Bultmann, Barrett, and many more.

Alongside this "historical interpretation" is Bruner's own contemporary interpretation, which incorporates a lucid translation of the text, references to recent scholarship, and his pastoral application of the Gospel to present-day experience. Like Bruner's other work, this commentary is rich in biblical insights, broadly historical, and deeply theological.

Here is what Eugene Peterson said about Bruner's earlier work on Matthew: "This is the kind of commentary I most want -- a theological wrestling with Scripture. Frederick Dale Bruner grapples with the text not only as a technical exegete (although he does that very well) but as a church theologian, caring passionately about what these words tell us about God and ourselves. His Matthew commentary is in the grand traditions of Augustine, Calvin, and Luther -- expansive and leisurely, loving the text, the people in it, and the Christians who read it." The same could well be said about the present John commentary, which promises to be another invaluable resource for pastors, teachers, and laypeople alike.

Lazarus, Come Forth! How Jesus Confronts the Culture of Death and Invites Us into the New Life of Peace

The raising of Lazarus in John's Gospel is one of the most dramatic and poignant episodes in scripture. While traditionally read as a story about friendship and faith, Dear shows through his extended meditations how this story summarizes the persistent theme of the Gospel. If Lazarus represents humanity, the story of his raising is about the God of Life confronting the power of death itself, calling humanity to walk out of the tombs of death--the culture of violence and war--and into "the new life of resurrection peace." According to Dear, the Gospel urges us to carry on this liberating work of Jesus today: to remove the stone that keeps us trapped in cultures of violence, to call each other out of the tombs, to unbind one another and set each other free to live in peace. In pursuing this work, we fulfill our vocations as disciples of Jesus and enter the fullness of life today.

This book examines the Fourth Gospel in reference to First-Century media culture, including issues of issues of orality, aurality and performance. Werner Kelber's "The Oral and the Written Gospel" substantially challenged predominant paradigms for understanding early Jesus traditions and the formation of written Gospels. Since that publication, a more precise and complex picture of first - century media culture has emerged. Yet while issues of orality, aurality, performance, and mnemonics are now well voiced in Synoptic Studies, Johannine scholars remain largely unaware of such issues and their implications. The highly respected contributors to this book seek to fill this lacuna by exploring various applications of orality, literacy, memory, and performance theories to the Johannine Literature in hopes of opening new avenues for future discussion. Part 1 surveys the scope of the field by introducing the major themes of ancient media studies and noting their applicability to the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles. Part 2 analyzes major themes in the Johannine Literature from a media perspective, while Part 3 features case studies of specific texts. Two responses by Werner Kelber and Alan Culpepper complete the volume. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches.

In many respects John remains the most beloved of all Gospels. In this careful study for laity, Frances Taylor Gench provides an opportunity for Christians to immerse themselves in this complex Gospel and become better acquainted with its intriguing and distinctive vision. Examining thirteen central texts (including the wedding at Cana, the woman of Samaria, the "I Am" passages, the woman accused of adultery, the raising of Lazarus, and the resurrection scenes), Gench focuses on each text's key features, including literary design, historical origins, and theological insights. Drawing on questions and insights raised by contemporary biblical scholars, Gench helps her readers see these texts anew. She explores the ethical challenges that these texts pose and discusses how this perplexing Gospel can inform Christian life and faith and the practice of daily ministry. Each chapter concludes with thoughtful and engaging study questions for individual or group use.

The Fourth Gospel raises a number of problems generally known as The Johannine Question. According to tradition the Gospel was written by St John the Apostle. The authenticity of the tradition is examined in the introduction but the textual issues are examined within the commentary itself. For example one problem is that Chapters 15 and 16 seem in early versions to have preceded chapter 14. Chapter 21 must have been a later addition. The purpose of the Gospel as stated in Chapter 20 v 31 is to strenghten the reader's faith in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God. But even the celebrated prologue has given rise to much speculation, whereas most commentators believe it is the key to the Gospel as a whole.

Unlike the usual historical, exegetical, or theological commentaries, this rich and engrossing work assembles and catalogs the pertinent values, conflicts, and mores of ancient Mediterranean culture. Its Gospel outline, detailed textual notes, and 'reading scenarios' bring life and light to the social circumstances the Gospel text relates about childhood, money, divorce, military service, farming, family life, cities, demons, patronage, and a host of other aspects of the ancient world. In many ways, the authors disclose, the Fourth Gospel addresses an alienated anti-society, fundamentally at odds with the predominant culture. With its format, charts and photos, this social-science commentary is the ideal companion for the study of the Fourth Gospel.

In this detailed, elegantly written commentary J. Ramsey Michaels gives primary attention to the Gospel of John in its present form rather than to the sources or traditions behind it. Michaels examines both the Gospel's literary character and its theological significance for the Christian community in its own time and through the ages. This landmark commentary -- seventeen years in the making, reflecting fifty years of classroom teaching, and packed with fresh insights -- will prove highly useful to scholars, students, and, especially, pastors.

About the disciple known as Doubting Thomas, everyone knows at least this much: he stuck his finger into the risen Jesus' wounds. Or did he? A fresh look at the "Gospel of John" reveals how little we may really understand about this most perplexing of biblical figures, and how much we might learn from the strange twists and turns Thomas' story has taken over time.

About the disciple known as Doubting Thomas, everyone knows at least this much: he stuck his finger into the risen Jesus' wounds. Or did he? A fresh look at the "Gospel of John" reveals how little we may really understand about this most perplexing of biblical figures, and how much we might learn from the strange twists and turns Thomas' story has taken over time.